By Brenna Angel, Kentucky Public Radio State income tax credits will soon be available to small businesses across the Commonwealth that created at least one new job and invested at least five thousand dollars in new equipment or technology this year. Mark Johnson with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development says qualifying businesses can start applying for the investment credit program next month.“The program is retroactive to January 1, 2010, so the companies that have already made those investments, obviously they’ll be able to take advantage of the credit and submit their applications immediately. So hopefully we’re going to be pretty busy. And then going forward, we have three million dollars for this program on a state fiscal year, so hopefully companies are just going to be able to expand and increase and go forward from there,” he said. The credits range from $3,500 to $25,000 per business. Similar programs have traditionally been used to encourage large manufacturers to build and create jobs in Kentucky, but this program marks the first time incentives have been extended to small businesses with 50 or fewer employees.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.